Mistletoe Halloween
by Siakeruu Arrisorra
Summary: Written for a friend and the Halloween Prompt Exchange Challenge. Somehow, mistletoe is a Halloween decoration in Ludwig, Gilbert and Feliciano's dorm room… Ludwig swears ONCE, therefore I rate this K .


The little dorm room was decorated rather festively. As many purple bats as could be taped on the walls were up. There were sprigs of mistletoe in strategic places, a greeting pumpkin at the door, and candy corn decorations. Despite the party-like surroundings, there was only so much space for one, which was why the three inhabitants were going with a certain Elizaveta to another, larger Halloween party.

One of said inhabitants, an albino German, checked his watch for the third time in five minutes. "C'mon, Ludwig, we're going to be late!"

"It's not even near time yet," the other German said with a sigh. "Besides, Elizaveta said she'd pick us up from here. You agreed, remember?"

"Are girls allowed in boys' dorms?" the Italian, Feliciano, asked, head tilted a little to the side. His curl bounced.

"Whatever- it's not like Rod-whoever will care. He adores her," Gilbert said with a flick of his hand. "He'll let her in just to see her."

"The landlord's name is Roderich," Ludwig said. He frowned a bit. "And I don't think we should discuss his love life here."

"Nobody cares," Gilbert said, checking his watch again. "She'll never come!"

"The party isn't going to run away," Feliciano said with a giggle. "Why are you so impatient?"

His question was answered when he heard Gilbert's stomach growl.

Ludwig laughed at that. "Oh, he's hungry."

"Hey! I- well-" Gilbert stuttered, red in the face. "Okay, so what if I am? I'll eat a snack or something."

"I don't think you'll get to eat anything good at the party," Ludwig said. "You should eat here."

The other German surveyed their dorm's food stock, first opening the pantry [full of ramen, other noodles, chocolate and ground coffee]. A bag of flour sat against the small refrigerator, which he checked next- cheese, tomatoes, potatoes, a few onions and some green stuff he didn't care about.

"Nothing to eat," he announced, closing the fridge.

Feliciano caught the handle and swung it open, seeing for himself. "Ve~ What are you talking about? There's plenty."

"No, there isn't," Gilbert said.

"Look... Ingredients. Lots of them. I could make you pasta," the Italian offered.

Gilbert shrugged, sitting at the table. "Sure." His stomach rumbled again. Feliciano set to work with a slight giggle, pulling out two pots from a cabinet. Ludwig wasn't sure what to do, so he stood awkwardly between the table and the counter.

"Could you make the sauce for me, Ludwig?" Feliciano asked, looking up from a pot.

"Ah- sure, okay," he said.

He stood there even more awkwardly.

The Italian giggled again. "You do the noodles, then."

Relieved, Ludwig nodded and took the pot of water, setting it on the stove. He turned the dial to 'high', then went to the pantry for noodles at the same time as Feli went to the nearby fridge for tomatoes. Their elbows brushed.

Feli didn't seem to notice, but Ludwig blushed. Gilbert caught it and smiled a strange half-smile. Ludwig blinked a little longer than usual, clearing his head. There was nothing in that touch... He should concentrate.  
The sauce was nearly done- Feli brought it to the stove for the last step. Ludwig stepped out of the way not quite fast enough. The Italian's arm touched his side.

A shiver ran down the German's spine and he smiled involuntarily, facing the cabinet.

"What are you doing, Ludwig? Thinking about later?" his brother called.

"No, I'm getting a strainer," he answered.

Gilbert chuckled. "That's the beer bottle cabinet."

Startled, Ludwig shook his head. "No, it's not…"

"Really?"

He opened it and was eye-to-label with several bottles.

"Okay, never mind," he muttered, and turned to the right cabinet.

It wasn't too long before both the noodles and sauce were done. Feli 've'd happily as he split the food into thirds and put it in bowls. Gilbert eyed the pasta hungrily. "Can you give me a fork?"

"Get it yourself," Ludwig muttered, but Feliciano got three- one for each of them.

Gilbert took a bite and became stunned by the pasta. His red eyes went quite wide. "Mimph if phood!" he exclaimed, mouth full. Feli laughed his bubbly laugh. "I'll take that as a compliment~"

Ludwig swallowed, sighed a bit, and translated: "He says 'this is good'."

"How can you tell?"

"I've been living with him for a lifetime. I can translate."

"Oh," Feli said, puzzling over it for a few minutes. "I don't really get it, but if you say so…"

It didn't take long before they all finished. Gilbert declared that since he was the most awesome food critic in the dorm, he didn't have to do any work. Feli didn't complain, but Ludwig glared at his brother over the dirty dishes.

"There aren't that many, Ludwig," Feli said softly. "It's okay."

The non-food-critic pumped a bit of liquid soap onto a dish harder than necessary and scrubbed it. He looked like he had an intent to kill. One of the newly deceased suds landed on Feli's nose.

Ludwig looked up and blushed again. "Ah, Feliciano…"

"Yeah?" he answered, oblivious.

"There's a bit of…"

Gilbert laughed.

"What is it?"

"Uh, soap. Bubbles. On your nose. Here," Ludwig said, and leaned forward over the dishes. He wiped the small spot away with the pad of his thumb.

"Oh! Oh, tha- thanks, Ludwig," Feli said. There was a slight dusting of pink on his cheeks.

Ludwig didn't know why, but there was a strange, light feeling in his chest. A happy feeling…? Was that it? He picked up another plate and scrubbed, again harder than necessary. The glass squeaked in protest.

"Ludwig?" Feli said quietly. "Don't go so hard on the dishes."

"What? I'm not," he said automatically.

"It's cracking."

"Shit," he muttered. He rinsed it off and saw the cracks- a fine, interlacing spiderweb. "Should I throw it away?"

Gilbert shrugged. "Put it up on the mantel. It'd make an awesome decoration."

"What does it have to do with Halloween?"

"Nothing! That's why it's awesome," he said, pleased with his logic. "Finish the dishes and put it up."

The dishes were nearly done anyway. Once they'd finished, Feli held the plate carefully as they made their way over to the little mantel. It was crowded already with mini pumpkins, paper decorations, and mistletoe, but Ludwig nudged them further along to make room. Feli had to put one pumpkin on the floor. The mistletoe wavered over Ludwig's head as he took the plate and put it up.

The plate didn't want to be put up. It teetered; both Feli and Ludwig reached to right it. Feli tripped over the mini pumpkin on the floor.

His lips were so soft.

Ludwig's eyes were wide open, he had to steady the plate with one hand and himself with the other, while maintaining balance on one foot (the other could come down either on the mini pumpkin or Feli's foot, neither would end well). His supporting hand shook; Gilbert shook with silent laughter and Feli was just… there. His eyes were open for once and shaking, dancing maybe, with happiness.

The door burst open and someone with a very feminine voice laughed out loud.

"You idiots, you don't put up mistletoe for Halloween!" Elizaveta said, then laughed again. Ludwig glanced above himself (and Feli, who was still somehow kissing him) and saw the dread green sprig.

Mistletoe...

Feli broke the kiss, steadying Ludwig carefully, guiding his other foot to the ground. There was a smile written in his eyes.

He'd been the one to put them all up.

"You idiot," Ludwig repeated quietly, "you don't put up mistletoe for Halloween."

* * *

This short has a bit of history behind it~!  
A person who read my fic Scars (and someone who I consider a friend) asked me a while ago to rewrite their story "Pasta, Beer And Kisses" for them. (I'm not sure of the exact title anymore, but it's somewhere on DA.) It changed rather drastically, from major to minor, enough so that I think of it as my own.  
Then I had to move; near all writing was put on hold, including this. It waited rather patiently.  
Around the beginning of October, I participated in a Prompt Exchange challenge with a Halloween theme. The prompt was 'You idiot, you don't hang mistletoe for Halloween!'. I couldn't think of anything to go with it, and I wanted to be lazy and edit an old fragment to fit it.  
I didn't have anything that would work, though, except this.  
So it's now what it is.  
I hope you enjoyed Mistletoe Halloween~! And sorry for the long wait, ItalianGunsAndSpanishTomatoes!


End file.
